Islam, Islamism, Conflict & Terrorism (a collection)

[davidbfpo]

Yes, a good review, which I will circulate to a few Muslims here in the UK for comment - including several women. Alongside the review is an advert for singlemuslim.com and a photo of a lady with a scarf. As the review comments on the views of Muslim women the advert is cannily well-placed.

davidbfpo

[Rebecca White]

Thanks for the well written, comprehensive review, LTC Schumann. This is a book I will read and share.

[Juan Rico]

bought this book after seeing it mentioned here a couple of days back, it was very readable. if you have the luxury of hanging out w/ plenty of american muslims, non-arab muslims, middle east muslims and gulf muslims most of what's revealed in this book shouldn't be too much of a surprise.

i thought the reading goes very well w/ another work from um al-qorah university in mecca (as a bit of a counter balance), a sort of master's thesis by a student of mohammed qutb, the brother of sayyid qutb (it's a bit dated but captures the essence of salafi thought, the greatest export of the kingdom to the rest of the muslim world):

http://izzatulillah.wordpress.com/20...wala-wal-bara/ (in 3 pdf parts)

The book deals with the concept of Loving for the sake of Allah and Hating for the sake of Allah. It was originally submitted for a Masters Degree at the Department of Aqeedah Umm al-Qorah University in Makkah. The subject matter of this work is of paramount importance and utmost interest for two major reasons:

Firstly, it is concerned with one of Islam's main foundations, namely the qualities of al-wala' wa al-bara' ( الولاء و البراء ), which are two major prerequisites of true faith: al-wala' is a manifestation of sincere love for Allah, His prophets and the believers; al-bara', on the other hand, is an expression of enmity and hatred towards falsehood and its adherents. Both are evidence of iman.

Secondly, it has been written at a very crucial time: everything has become so mixed up that some Muslims are no longer aware of those qualities which distinguish the believers from the non-believers; their faith has become so weak that they have adopted patterns of behaviour that are absolutely repugnant to a sincere believer; they have taken the disbelievers as their friends, while displaying enmity towards many of the believers by disparaging their character and degrading them.

Aqidah (sometimes spelled Aqeedah, Aqidah or Aqida) (Arabic: عقيدة) is an Islamic term meaning creed. Any religious belief system, or creed, can be considered an example of aqidah. However this term has taken a significant technical usage in Muslim history and theology, denoting those matters over which Muslims hold conviction.

The six Sunni and Shia articles of belief are:

Belief in God (Allah), the one and only one worthy of all worship (tawhid).
Belief in all the Prophets (nabi) and Messengers (rusul) sent by God
Belief in the Angels (mala'ika).
Belief in the Books (kutub) sent by God (including the Qur'an).
Belief in the Day of Judgment (qiyama) and in the Resurrection (life after death).
Belief in Destiny (Fate) (qadar).

[Juan Rico]

http://fora.tv/2008/07/01/Irshad_Man...eaks_for_Islam
(this is a little over 1 hour long)

Irshad Manji (not wearing hijab, author of The Trouble with Islam Today, considers herself a reform minded muslim) and Dalia Mogahed (co-author of Who Speaks for Islam?, considers herself a moderate/mainstream muslim) discuss issues surrounding contemporary Islam at the 2008 Aspen Ideas Festival, including the nature of the religion in relation to peace & conflict and the interpretation of the Koran.

***

every time we get a more than usual dose of feel good moderation, we should always chase it down w/ some walid shoebat as a rule:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=653akoOAlaE